CHAPTER X.
THE WHITE ELEPHANT.
Mention of the white elephant is found in the very early histories of Oriental countries. In a work called the “Mahaw Anso,” the animal is described as forming a part of the retinue attached to the Temple of the Tooth at Anarájapoora in the fifth century after Christ; but it commanded no religious veneration, being merely considered as an emblem of royalty.
White elephants were so valued in the sixteenth century, that the nations of Pegu and Siam waged a war for many years about one; and, before it was settled, five successive kings were killed, and thousands of men.
Horace mentions the white elephant in his “Epistles.” Democritus would laugh at the populace,—
“Whether a beast of mixed and monstrous birth
Bids them with gaping admiration gaze,
Or a white elephant their wonder raise.”
Ælian refers to a white elephant whose mother was black. In the eleventh century Mahmood possessed one, and when mounted upon it in battle he felt assured of victory.
The question whether the white elephant was worshipped, or is at the present time, in Burmah or Siam, is of considerable interest; and authorities vary so, that the seeker after information is often puzzled. I think that the status of the animal may be fairly expressed in the following.